I, Lord of Prayer

"Can we talk about something?" Zhou Chen perked up and sat down on the sofa next to him.

"What is it?"

"Hmm, your junior from junior school should have told you, right? We're going to take advantage of the impact of Fu Qing's downfall to carry out our actions..."

"I know that."

"Guess what?" The birdman grinned.

"What's wrong?"

"He actually made me investigate the Eternal Flame!"

At the mention of this, Birdman slapped his thigh and laughed so hard he almost fell over: "I almost couldn't hold it in back then! Haha... Hahahaha... You didn't see his expression at the time, he was as serious as a middle school dean of students... Hahahaha..."

"..." Zhou Chen was speechless and choked with emotion.

One can only lament that Fu Qing is incredibly unlucky. His most capable and trusted lieutenant is a traitor from Eternal Flame, secretly wishing for his death while outwardly appearing loyal and righteous, as if to say, "Boss, you can rest assured about my work..."

What a load of crap! Why would I bother checking my own work?

But why does he also want to laugh?

Hmm... it must be because everyone is a double agent.

Traitors are great! Traitors all have bright futures, traitors all have a promising future.

The bird laughed for a while before stopping, its smile undiminished, and asked, "Did you join the Special Operations Group?"

"Not so fast, the application was just submitted. (-_-) (-_-)" Zhou Chen shook his head, "Whether it will be approved is another matter."

"What about the Star Society operator you took down? The Special Operations Team should be looking for him, right?" Birdman asked again.

  

"I don't know. The movements of the Special Task Force aren't something you can just find out easily, but I bet they're looking for people everywhere," Zhou Chen casually made up.

"Don't worry, we've burned the body to ashes and cleaned it very thoroughly, so you don't need to worry," the birdman said.

Zhou Chen nodded; in fact, he hadn't worried at all.

Anyway, it was an alchemical android that died. Old Yang is currently happily using the money to upgrade his secret techniques, and he'll probably be promoted to the second tier in a few days.

"You asked me to gather information about Jiang Che, and I did find out some things, but they were all trivial matters," he added.

"Oh? Tell me about it." The birdman looked very interested.

"It is said that she has strict requirements for the work system. She leaves on time from nine to five every day and never works overtime on weekends. If there is an emergency and she needs to work overtime, she must apply for triple overtime pay."

Besides that, she smokes, drinks, likes dogs, and enjoys eating cilantro and houttuynia cordata.

"That's all?" The birdman raised an eyebrow.

That's all.

"It's all trivial stuff..." The birdman shrugged nonchalantly, puffing on his cigar. "It's alright, as long as we have the information, at least we can see she's an extremely disciplined person... But the fact that she likes to eat houttuynia cordata (a type of herb) shows she's ruthless. 🐠😳 🐸🐨"

No, she absolutely hates cilantro and houttuynia cordata, and she's a complete workaholic... Zhou Chen thought to himself, but outwardly asked calmly, "Is there anything else?"

"Yes." The birdman stubbed out his cigar in the ashtray, looking at him with a half-smile. "Do you yearn for my lord's favor?"

"certainly!"

Zhou Chen answered without hesitation, his tone devout: "If I could receive the favor of my lord, it would be my greatest honor!"

"Don't worry, the church rewards merit. As long as your merits are sufficient, you will receive a reward from our Lord. He will grant you unimaginable power, such as..."

The birdman stood up and walked to an open space in the room. Dark flames flickered deep in his pupils. Then, a pair of fiery wings slowly unfolded from behind him, each feather burning with black flames, making him look incredibly sinister.

He flapped his wings slightly, bringing a burst of heat, and flew three feet off the ground, explaining, "A source material shielding device has been set up here, so source material fluctuations will not be detected. And what you see is the talent bestowed upon me by my lord."

Normally ascended beings possess only one extraordinary ability, and through continuous learning and mastery, they can develop more derivative abilities. But we are different. The power bestowed upon us by our Lord will allow our extraordinary abilities to undergo a qualitative transformation, becoming even stronger and closer to Him.

This is actually a sign of being assimilated by the abyss, or to put it bluntly, being corrupted by the power of the evil god... Zhou Chen knew very well what this meant.

It is corrupt, but not completely corrupt.

All believers who are "baptized" by the power of the Chaos King have their souls corrupted by the power of the abyss. The more times they are baptized and the higher their rank, the closer their essence is to that of a creature of the abyss. Sooner or later, they will be completely corrupted and fall into the abyss.

Those flames are chaotic fires that bring death and despair. The light and heat they emit contain spiritual pollution. Once endowed with this ability, how are they different from the creatures of the abyss?

However, knowing this was one thing, but when it came time to perform, Zhou Chen didn't hold back. He revealed a fervent expression of admiration and amazement:

"It's so...beautiful!"

The birdman landed leisurely, folded his fiery wings, and laughed, "Once you infiltrate the Star Society and achieve great merit, you will also receive my lord's favor."

"But that will take a long time." Zhou Chen looked regretful, as if he was annoyed that he could not receive the grace of the gods immediately.

"No, you might have your chance soon."

Birdman shrugged and said helplessly, "Some of our recent actions have been too audacious and have attracted the attention of the Star Society. They are definitely preparing various operations. If you can find out the details of their operations, it will be a great achievement."

"Okay, leave it to me!"

Zhou Chen spoke with righteous indignation and stern voice:

"I will do everything in my power to infiltrate the Star Society!"

"I believe you can do it soon." Birdman praised, having a deep understanding of Zhou Chen's competence.

For a fleeting moment, this scene seemed vaguely familiar...

·

Back at the Stars Guild, Zhou Chen tossed the Sacred Flame Ring to the research department for in-depth examination. The results showed that the ring was indeed just a token, containing no power whatsoever, and might even have been mass-produced in a factory…

"This is incredible! There's not even an anti-counterfeiting number. Does that mean I can use this to swindle people from all over the world using Eternal Flame?"

Zhou Chen's thoughts began to go downhill.

However, he felt that this approach was feasible...

After returning to his dormitory with the Sacred Flame Ring, Zhou Chen took a shower, lay on his bed, closed his eyes, and meditated, his consciousness entering the ocean of the collective subconscious.

A week later, the cooldown period for entering the strange space seemed to have ended. When he touched the wish bubble, he once again felt that consciousness could extend outwards, but he suppressed it.

After several attempts, following his instincts, he finally found a way to enter the white mist space without touching the wish bubble.

—Relax and imagine your consciousness is ascending, with that space as its destination.

Then everything became hazy, and in the distance, thick fog swept in from all directions, churning and surging violently.

Then, as if the curtain on a stage had been drawn back, the fog slowly dissipated, revealing the scene behind it.

The beautiful fountain, now dry, stands silently here, its age unknown. Nothing else exists besides it; all around is an endless, hazy mist, utterly desolate.

Zhou Chen approached the fountain and examined it closely with a look of confusion on his face:

"What exactly is this thing?"